EPA Review Annex Documents - DFID

people from all parts of the country this was the aspect that required the input of voluminous
resources.
• If there were more resources, the outcome of EPA would have been different as it would
have helped provide a clearer visibility and understanding of issues to properly navigate the
negotiations. In the absence of these, the pressure to sign mounts and suspicion is created
around the true motive of EPA which further lingers the process.
• Though the current negotiating structure appears deceptively costly, it is cost effective to
negotiate at the regional level as it is being done.
• If countries had the opportunity to negotiate individually, it would have been faster to reach
an agreement and some resources may have been saved. However, the EPA should
continue to be negotiated at the regional level to promote regional integration as individual
countries negotiations will generate unequal distribution of benefits across countries of the
region.
• The pace of negotiations is also affected because of the non-existence of basic initial
conditions such as harmonisation of national policies at the regional level. During the EPA
negotiations, about three things are being done simultaneously, process of reaching withinregion
consensus, process of West Africa-EU EPA negotiations itself, and harmonisation of
policies to ensure the smooth implementation of EPA.
Additional resources required to conclude EPA include resources to:
• Conduct more studies and dissemination meetings/workshops to highlight livelihoods
implications of EPA, the necessity of adopting different business techniques in changing
environments;
• Build the capacity of negotiators to upgrade their negotiation skills through training in
negotiation skills and trade policy.
• Rejuvenate and establish institutions that will implement the EPA such as the Federal
Ministry of Commerce, other regulatory institutions, NAFDAC, Standard Organization of
Nigeria (SON), quarantine service, and trade facilitators like customs.
Elements necessary to conclude the EPA process are:
• The Goods Agreement with EPA development fund commitment at acceptable threshold.
• When development fund is discussed more concretely in terms of magnitude, availability and
access.
• The ECOWAS CET, market access offer and Rules of Origin negotiations need to be
completed quickly.
EPA as Instrument of Development
• Though EPA remains an instrument for promoting sustainable development, some of its
pre-requisites as enunciated in the Cotonou agreement (article 37 paragraph 3), on capacity
building before the conclusion of the negotiations, are not met. For example, capacity
building to remove private sector supply constraints; to ensure effective negotiations to
protect sensitive products that are critical drivers of domestic growth; and to use EPA
resources to revitalise weak firms through infrastructure and management support.
• The selection of sensitive products at the national level should go a long way in achieving
such protection but aggregation at the regional level may compromise the extent.
• Market access and development, and rules regarding dispute settlement aspects have
been particularly difficult to negotiate. Agreements are being reached in many of these
areas.
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